A government "tsar" is defined as an individual from outside government who is publicly appointed by a minister to advise on policy development on the basis of their expertise. Their numbers have soared since 1997. Recently published research by Dr Ruth Levitt and William Solesbury (see www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/politicaleconomy/research/tsars.aspx) is the first to systematically investigate and charter the growth in tsar appointments, examine the nature of tsars' expertise, the issues ministers have asked them to address and the difference they can make. Dr Levitt will discuss the study's findings and the important questions of accountability and the use of expertise in the policy system. Former tsar Stephen Boys Smith will provide a first-hand account of his experience in the role.

Dr Ruth Levitt is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Dept of Political Economy at King's College London, and an independent researcher working on public policy analysis and evaluation studies in academic and not-for-profit environments. Studies include policy tsars, the role of outsiders in Whitehall, the use of evidence in audit, inspection and scrutiny of UK government, and the role of evidence in the UK’s policy making on GM crops.  She is also a Research Fellow at the Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust &  Genocide, and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of North American Studies at KCL.

Stephen Boys Smith CB is a former civil servant. He spent most of his career in the Home Office, with spells in the Central Policy Review Staff, the Northern Ireland Office and the Treasury. In his last three posts he headed the police, the immigration and nationality, and the counter-terrorism and organised crime parts of the department. After leaving the Home Office he was Secretary to the Independent Monitoring Commission in Northern Ireland and served on the Civil Service Appeal Board.